My goal for 2014 is to improve my swimming and biking, and complete the Double Mussel and REV3 Poconos 70.3 races. I'm in the process of moving from Rochester to Albany, and am looking forward to making some new friends!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Race Report: Greenswell Triathlon -- MOJO DOMINATION :-)

Myself and superstar reporters Abbey Roy and Anna Sudar joined forces to compete in the Greenswell Triathlon as a relay team July 17 (Sunday) at Alum Creek beach in Lewis Center. Anna swam, Abbey rode and I ran. We rocked it, we did the sprint distance in 1:26:38, second place of all relay teams! Full results here. Results for all Greenswell events that weekend here.

My part of it was a 5K that I did in 26:36 with awesome splits. I finally learned my lesson about not starting out too fast!

Timing chip on Anna's foot.

The race started at 8, we were there at 6:30 and the place was packed. Good thing, there was a lot of preparation on Anna and Abbey's part! There weren't that many relays so we had to figure out the transitions for ourselves, which wasn't bad. Our "baton" was an ankle timing chip that we passed off.

Anna in the water.

When they called Anna's wave, she dominated! She was out ahead of the pack and dove into the water! We figured she'd be about 25 minutes, my plan was to run a warmup and come back to wait for her. I get my gear together and run a slow mile. What do I see when I'm getting back? A blue bathing suit jumping out of the water and running through the sand into transition. Miss Anna did the .45-mile swim in 17:25 and was one of the first out of the water! (Continued after the jump.)

Abbey riding.

We're 1:07 in transition and Abbey takes off on her Golden-Flash themed bike. I stretch out. It's tricky because I have no clue how much time I'll have. Abbey says 40 minutes, the announcer guy says an hour, it really didn't matter because I wasn't paying attention to the time. I think I see bikes coming in twice, both times I'm up and ready to go. Finally the first one comes in, then a few more, and then a light pink tank top approaches! Abbey did her 12-mile ride in 40:47.

It's my turn! We're :46 in transition, which includes me stopping to tighten the ankle strap because it was too loose.

I was secretly not looking forward to this at all. I was sore from 10 miles with MIT the day before. I was running on little sleep thanks to a screaming kid waking me up at 4 a.m. And within two steps I realized the Zoots were a horrible choice of shoes given my horrific shin splits. It's not too hot out yet, but the humidity was killer.

Me taking off into the woods.

I felt horrible! Anna and Abbey were so pumped, so competitive, and here I am ill-prepared. But still I took off with Green Day blaring in my ears. Just keep it under 30, Jessica.

We ran across the beach and through a wooded area. My legs wouldn't let me move faster than a 9-minute pace. Running on the grass was a welcome relief for my aching shins. The course is a slight uphill. After about a mile we spit out onto the dam to get to the turnaround. The first mile was 8:41, not nearly as bad as I thought! The pavement was rough at first but my legs settled in around the turnaround point. It was so pretty! Plus I got a slight ego boost from passing people who were tired from their rides and swims.

Even though there was a nice breeze from the water there was no shade during the part on the dam. As I'm finishing Mile 2 I'm thinking I was done for. I finished the mile in 8:35.

Awesome shot Anna's fiance got of me and Anna's dad passing each other on the dam.

We came back the way we came which meant the last mile was shady and downhill. Bliss! I suddenly feel great and step it up! Halfway through I see another woman approaching behind me. I had no idea if she was on a relay team or not but I still wasn't going to let her beat me! I step it up again and am done with Mile 3 in 8:15. I kick it in to the end at a 7:31 pace. Anna and Abbey are waiting at the finish. My final time was 26:36, not by best but given the factors listed above I was SO pleased with it!

The food was excellent, fresh fruit, Sun Chips, granola bars and Veggie Straws (yumm!) In general the event was very well staffed and organized. We took second of the relay teams, but they didn't have the right plaque so it will be mailed to us and displayed in the Advocate newsroom.

And watching a people do a full triathlon may or may not have gotten the wheels turning in my head :) (I can't swim.) But for now, that's four races in four weeks complete, and time for me to start focusing on Columbus (and Hocking!)

But there is a future for the Manic Mojos all-star triathlon relay team. We'll be having a little celebration tonight to discuss it!